Nearly 100 cats perish in house fire; dog, owner survive

Fencing the owner installed to pen the animals briefly trapped her in the burning home before firefighters cut her out and rescued her, the San Jose Fire Department said.

According to fire Capt. Reggie Williams, the resident, a woman in her 70s, had made her South San Jose home into a cat sanctuary.

"There were cats in every room of the house," Williams said.

The homeowner called 911 at 1:43 a.m. after she was woken by the lone dog that lived with her, and saw fire and smoke emanating from a bedroom.

After a fire dispatcher instructed her to get out of the home, and she exited through a rear door and found herself trapped by metal netting intended to keep her rescue cats from escaping.

She was ordered to stay low and responding firefighters found her in a fetal position with smoke and fire wafting above her. Crews used axes to cut through the fencing and pulled her to safety.

"The dispatchers kept her calm, told her to stay low and told us where she was. We went directly to her," Williams said.

It took about an hour for firefighters to put out the flames. Afterward, they removed the bodies of nearly 100 cats, most of whom, Williams said, died from smoke inhalation rather than direct contact with the fire.

Neither the resident nor any of the two-dozen fire personnel were injured. Her dog also escaped safely.

The half-dozen cats that survived the fire were handed over to the city's animal services department.

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Williams said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but that it does not appear suspicious.

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